Suture



F. W. HAMES April 11, i939.

SUTURE Filed July 20, 1937 Fraaer/c/c WIN/5m Ham es INVENTOR 26. ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 11, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE SUTURE Application July 20, 1987, Serial No. 154,530

3 Claims.

My invention relates to a novel support or carrier for substances implanted in or applied to the human body in the treatment of disease for which the substances most generally used at present are radium or emanations of radium sealed in gold tubes and sold under the name of Radon. It will be understood that my invention is not confined to the use of radium or Radon but is usable with any other substances having similar action.

The term treating unit as used hereinafter is intended to include a unit of radium, Radon or any other applicable substance.

In the present practice of applying or implanting treating units it is customary to either puncture the afiected part by means of a hollow needle or trocar and then insert the appropriate unit, or to implant hollow needles Containing the units. In following this practice several serious difficulties have been encountered. It is practically impossible to always correctly place or locate the treating units initially. Then it is difiicult to keep them in place after they have been implanted because of their tendency to be displaced by their high specific gravity and by the serums and body fluids. Furthermore if the Radon units are not removed from the tissues there is the possibility of excessive radiation or of radiation to an unaffected part; or the gold tube may act as a foreign body. At present it is difiicult to use Radon units in certain parts of the body due to the danger of the units changing position and entering the respiratory tract. Moreover it is necessary to plant each Radon unit singly and this necessitates multiple punctures in the tissues. Another serious objection is the secondary radiation from the gold tubing in which the Radon units are sealed.

The principal object of my invention is to overcome the defects of existing methods of applying the treating units in the treatment of the human body and to'provide a support or carrier by means of which the units may be located initially with absolute accuracy and, after being so located, will remain in position until intentionally removed.

My invention may be embodied in sundry concrete forms, the preferred form being in the nature of a tubular, Woven suture made of a material such as silk which is substantially insoluble by the normal body fluids. units are placed within the suture at predetermined distances from one another and are maintained in spaced relation Within the suture. It will be understood that the material of the suture need not necessarily be silk, but may be any other The treating suitable material such as cotton, linen or cellulose.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is an elevational View of a fragment of the preferred form of suture with a plurality of treating units therein; Fig. 2 is a similar view of a fragment of a modified suture in the form of a simple twisted string supporting the treating units in spaced relation; Figs. 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views on the lines 3-3 and 44 respectively of Fig. 1, and Figs. 5 and 6 are cross-sectional views on the lines 5-5 and 6--6, respectively, of Fig. 2. In Fig. 1 of the drawing, I0 denotes the suture which is preferably a Woven structure made of a material, such as silk, remaining insoluble practically indefinitely in the body fluids. Within the suture and longitudinally co-axial therewith is a series of spacers II spaced end to end from one another. Each spacer consists of a number of threads, of silk or other appropriate material, twisted together and designed to maintain the treating units in predetermined spaced relationship.

The suture of Fig. 2 is a twisted string w in which no spacers, such as those denoted I I in Fig. 1 are required, but in which desired distances between units are marked ofi by indicia I2.

The sutures are manufactured in quantities and when supplied to surgeons or hospitals do not contain the treating units which are inserted at the appropriate time by the surgeon or his assistant. The treating units, whether radium, Radon or other similar substance, are denoted I3 in the drawing and are supplied separately from the sutures.

When the suture of Fig. 1 is to be used by the surgeon for its intended purpose he makes appropriate openings in the member Ill between the spacers I I, inserts the predetermined number of units I3 in these openings and closes the latter either merely by rejuxtaposing the strands of the fabric with a leasing needle or the like or by sealing the units in place with a plastic substance, such as collodion, or by using both expedients. In using the suture of Fig. 2, the surgeon untwists the string at the marked places I2, inserts the units I3, retwists the string and, if desired, seals or covers the retwisted parts with collodion or the like. When the suture has been thus provided with the radium units it is used on the patient in substantially the same manner as the ordinary suture is used for other purposes; i. e., the suture is sewed by means of a needle into the aiiected part and allowed to remain until radiation is completed, whereupon the suture is withdrawn.

A suture such as that described and illustrated has a number of virtues, absent from prior art devices and which may briefly be summarized as followsz-(a) the capability of accurately placing the units carried by the suture, in the predetermined position and their retention there until intentionally removed; (b) the elimination of danger to the patient from the escape of the units from the area under treatment to another part of the body; (0) the elimination or practical elimination of irritating, secondary radiation owing to the silk enclosure for the unit; (d) the placing of multiple unit implants through one opening; (e) simplicity of application makes its use more universal rather than its being confined to the larger medical centres as at present; (I) its benefits to the patientfirst because it lessens complications since it obviates the need for bed environment; second, the flexibility of the suture allows more freedom of movement of the tongue and lips when the mouth or adjacent parts are under treatment resulting in the ability to partake of larger amounts of fluids and foods as well as increasing the power of expectoration;

(9) owing to the fact that the time required to apply the units is materially less than by prior art methods the shock to the patient is minimized and the danger to the surgeon, the nurse and technicians from handling the radium or Radon is much reduced.

What I claim is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a suture insoluble in the fluids of the human body and having means for receiving treating units in predetermined spaced relationship within the body of the suture.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a suture insoluble in the fluids of the human body and having means for receiving treating units in spaced relationship within the body of the suture, and means for maintaining the spaced relationship of said units.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a tubular suture of a material insoluble in the fluids of the human body and having at least one cavity therein for receiving a treating unit, and means within the suture for maintaining the treating unit in predetermined position, within the suture.

FREDERICK WILLIAM HAMES. 

